Ball State University
22-9
Iowa
19-14
WBB Advances In The WNIT After 77-72 Win At Iowa
March 18, 2016 | Women's Basketball
IOWA CITY, IA - The Ball State women's basketball team (22-9) advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament after pulling off the 77-72 upset over Big Ten foe Iowa (19-14) Thursday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"Clearly a big night for our program," Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said. "We are really excited to beat such a quality team in Iowa. I thought both teams played their hearts out. We had to make some tough plays down the stretch and we got them from a lot of different places. It was a total team effort. We had to be tough and I think we were all of that and more."
The win over the Hawkeyes marks the first WNIT victory since the Cardinals advanced to the Final 16 in 2012-13. That year, Ball state defeated Minnesota, 54-51, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to advance to the second round.
Nathalie Fontaine collected her 38th career double-double after leading all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Moriah Monaco and Carmen Grande rounded out the double digit scoring with 16 points apiece.
Ball State, which has had trouble taking care of the ball this season, committed only 10 turnovers. The Cardinals scored 15 points off 12 Iowa miscues and out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 41-to-39.
A layup from Grande would give the Cardinals their largest lead of the contest (44-28) with 9:02 left in the third quarter. But Iowa slowly kept fighting its way back into the ball game, closing the third quarter with a 17-10 run, that allowed the Hawkeyes to come within eight (59-51).
Iowa went toe-to-toe with the Cardinals in the fourth quarter but Ball State never lost its composure. A 3-point basket from the Hawkeyes' Ally Disterhoft with 55 seconds left in the contest made it a two-point ball game (72-70). In the next possession, Fontaine was fouled underneath the basket. After making both free throws, Ball State went back up by four (74-70). The Hawkeyes were forced to foul down the stretch but Ball State went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to seal its victory.
The Cardinals opened the contest with an early 4-0 lead over the Hawkeyes after scoring the first two baskets of the ball game. Iowa tied the game at 4-4 with 7:55 remaining in the first quarter. The Cardinals quickly answered with a 14-6 scoring spree to go up 18-10 at the 2:46 mark which was capped off by a 3-point basket from Monaco. After that, Iowa cut the Cardinals lead to two (18-16) at the end of the first quarter but wouldn't get any closer the remainder of the half.
Ball State took a 40-28 advantage into the break despite losing the battle in the paint to Iowa, 20-to-14. The Cardinals controlled the majority of the first half holding a lead for over 18:55 over the Hawkeyes. Three Ball State players had already reached double figures at the half, with Monaco and Grande leading the pack with 11 apiece.
"I am just really proud of our team," Sallee said. "To win on the road in this tournament is hard to do and to come into a Big Ten arena and win on the road is really hard to do, so we are going to enjoy the heck out of it and get ready for the next one."
The Cardinals will now face Saint Louis Monday in the second round of the Women's NIT at 8 p.m. (EST) in Chaifetz Arena. The Billikens defeated Little Rock, 70-69, tonight in St. Louis.
